marsh man Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Reading a article in the Shooting Times today , it was saying this year in places is the worst year on record for Grouse with up to 70% of the shooting dates cancelled. So what is this got to do with Mallard you might well ask , well with the very cold spring we lost most of the young duck which came from the low numbers that bred , the second broods wasn't much better with the hens looking after just the odd1or 2 that survived , now we come to the third brood and what are about are small and it will be well into September before there likely to fly. I did say a few weeks ago this will be a below average season for local duck and with what I have seen lately ( or what I haven't seen ) around our way I would now say well below average . Around your way things might be looking a lot better , so with only just over a week before they become legal quarry how are you finding the Mallard situation ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barls2-9-12 Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Been down the sea wall over the last few days and there seems to be good numbers of mallard and gadwall about. Still a fair few young broods about 2-3 weeks old and some a few weeks further on. MM shame that you have not seen to many your way. Maybe once the season starts and a few people have been out it might move a few about so you might have a better idea what's about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Not looking to bad around here, but they are quite localised. Loads in one area and then miles with nothing!! Done quite a bit of looking around and know where I will be sat on the 1st! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Recruitment had been poor to say the least its started well but went backwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Recruitment had been poor to say the least its started well but went backwards Some of our problems are the amount of flight ponds in the area , one small one on the land I shoot for pigeons is being fed at the moment and to give them credit it is only shot three times a season , last year they shot just over 100 duck over the three times they shot it . Another big one , I say big one but there are several smaller ones so they can be shot in any wind direction are owned by some very wealthy overseas people where money is no object , these are shot on a regular basis and the amount of shooting you hear I would say large numbers of duck are accounted for. So by the end of the season a lot of the local Mallard are no longer with us , this has been going on for now for the last few years and now you can see the effect it is having on the local population . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 I am of the opinion that we would be better off with the American system, where feeding to attract wildfowl is illegal. The mallard would certainly be much better off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Thing is habbitat and food mskes more duck Double edged thing we have enough rules by far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Thing is habbitat and food mskes more duck Double edged thing we have enough rules by far Exactly. And if folk don't care about shooting excess numbers, I doubt they would care much about illegally feeding a flight pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Exactly. And if folk don't care about shooting excess numbers, I doubt they would care much about illegally feeding a flight pond. I agree but where do you draw a line on numbers shot , One shoot I went on Nr Norwich , I didn't take no beaters pay and the chap who ran it was kind enough to let me shoot his flight pond when we were finished for the day , I could have shot double figures if I wanted to but I found 2 or 3 Mallard and maybe a pair of Teal was more than enough for what I wanted. Unlike a commercial shoot I know of where they pay for the flight ( if you can call it a flight ) as duck are there when they start and shooting is continuous until it is to dark to see . I cant confirm any numbers because I haven't been there on the count up at the end , but a farmer who went once told me it was nearer to four figures than three and he went back in there shooting lodge way before they finished as he had shot all he wanted to shoot , and that was the first and last time he ever went . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 It's hard to say, think shoot what you can use. I don't mind giving a couple away. Was out on a flight pond years ago and there was hundreds of ducks pouring in,(no exaggeration). And the guy that owned the pond said 8 ducks between 3 of us. Seemed very little compared to what was coming in but was still more than enough birds at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 You cant legislate on bag or sportsmanship If you cant stop when thier still commimg there is no hope for you Some shoot ducks on the water with airguns apparently thats ok as long as you are not poaching The world confuses me sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 We shoot our flight pond a fair bit over the season and normally get around a dozen birds between the 4 of us, early season mainly Mallard and then a mix of Teal and Mallard as the season goes on. Over the last 6 years we have put down around 425 mallard, mainly raised from collected eggs. I personally think this is the only way to shoot fed ponds sustainably, there does seem to be a general improvement in the Mallard numbers in the area around our pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
widgeon man Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 This is in no way talking about flight ponds, but bags have been mentioned in previous posts......... Personally I think if there is the chance of a decent bag, take them. Remembering all the blank flights or promise the weather held and didn't deliver! In our sport of wild birds, you don't win all the time so make hay while the sun shines! But week in week out big bags over flightponds I would say are rare, no wild duck will take a constant pasting, however where it is achieved it is obviously not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 A lot depend on location and what county or area your in , if your talking about a flight pond say on a farm in the Midlands, your not going to attract the same amount of duck as a pond beside a coastal estuary that can hold 1000s of duck in the height of the winter . One big pond I am talking about is only around a mile or so from a R S P B reserve that hold a large amount of fowl and a estuary that at times can hold 15,000 duck , so you can imagine when the weather turn a bit cold and there putting loads of barley in there ponds the amount of duck going in there can be the 100s , where as a pond away from the holding grounds will only attract a small lot or a percentage of what you reared We shoot our flight pond a fair bit over the season and normally get around a dozen birds between the 4 of us, early season mainly Mallard and then a mix of Teal and Mallard as the season goes on. Over the last 6 years we have put down around 425 mallard, mainly raised from collected eggs. I personally think this is the only way to shoot fed ponds sustainably, there does seem to be a general improvement in the Mallard numbers in the area around our pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 (edited) Mallard numbers are well below average on my section of the N Norfolk coast. 150 present on the reserve mid week and a lot of old birds with the drakes already in almoust full colour. Usully we have around 250 at this time of year with 350 present after last years bumper breeding season. There were a few flappers and young birds only just flying , but not many. Plenty of teal in , a sprinkling of wigeon and shovllers and gadwall. Greylag numbers less than half the expected numbrers , but in recent years we have been visited by canadas in August and early september with 180 present a few days ago , a reserve record. Its not often we see more than a dozen and they are absent for months. A lot of the greylags and canadas were very small immature birds and poor flyers so care will be needed on the first. The question of flight ponds is a prickly one and though I do feed the splashes on my marsh the bag is usually less than 6 birds and as a whole i suspect we would be bettter off without them. But as with bag limits , it would be almost impossible to control flight pond feeding as it takes place on private land where the law would not what was going on. There are flight ponds along the N norfolk coast where 100 + bags are expected and one shoot I know used to shoot around 1000 duck, mainly teal a season over 4 ponds within a stones throw from the sea . They would shoot a evening followed by a morning flight when the tide was high at dawn. Edited August 21, 2015 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Mallard numbers are well below average on my section of the N Norfolk coast. 150 present on the reserve mid week and a lot of old birds with the drakes already in almoust full colour. Usully we have around 250 at this time of year with 350 present after last years bumper breeding season. There were a few flappers and young birds only just flying , but not many. Plenty of teal in , a sprinkling of wigeon and shovllers and gadwall. Greylag numbers less than half the expected numbrers , but in recent years we have been visited by canadas in August and early september with 180 present a few days ago , a reserve record. Its not often we see more than a dozen and they are absent for months. A lot of the greylags and canadas were very small immature birds and poor flyers so care will be needed on the first. The question of flight ponds is a prickly one and though I do feed the splashes on my marsh the bag is usually less than 6 birds and as a whole i suspect we would be bettter off without them. But as with bag limits , it would be almost impossible to control flight pond feeding as it takes place on private land where the law would not what was going on. Up until three years ago I would be down the marsh every night two weeks before the season started ( minus the gun ) to see what was about and where and what they were going on and by now I would more or less know where I was going first morning and night , some years would be better than others but I would always find some going on stubbles or if it was a very late harvest I would find duck on the laid corn , Now this year is different , although I am not there every night I still go down there 3 or 4 times a week as its now getting dark the same time I take my dogs out and with several stubble fields and a few still need to be cut I haven't seen one lot of duck go on any of the fields at all , and now I have stopped going the first day I don't think even if I did go I would stand much chance in getting a duck let alone half a dozen that would have been quite possible most years . I didn't think I would see the day when it is easier to get a goose later on in the season than a Mallard , last year it was , and if we are lucky to have them come down in the same numbers this year then I think the same will apply again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted August 25, 2015 Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 we seen a few Mallards about last weekend which was encouraging and some of the guys heard the Canada Geese calling. Looking forward to actually getting out on the 1st but it will not be the morning flight this season, will have to wait for the evening flight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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